Remembrance Day
Today is November 11th, which has the special significance of being Remembrance Day. For those that don't know, today is the day when we honour the dead of the two World Wars. Especially the Second World War, as the first is significant, but doesn't have quite the same weight as the second because it happened longer ago and did not have quite the same impact on the countries. For some people, today is a very important day as they have family that served in the war. Personally, my great-uncle was the only person I know that served in the war, and I don't know much about him. So rather, this day has a different significance.
For one, I'm half-Canadian, half-German, which places me in the unique position of having two perspectives on the war. From the Canadian perspective, I admire those who went to fight against an enemy across an ocean, but I do not feel the need to attend ceremonies. If I had seen one of the poppies, I probably would have bought one, but that's about it.
The German perspective is entirely different. Many of those who died in the war did not have a choice on whether to fight or not, and had they had a choice, many would have been willing to die for the fatherland. So I cannot admire the sacrifices of the German soldiers, because although they were perhaps misguided by propaganda and patriotism, they fought for a cause I cannot agree with. And the legacy of this war has become part of the national identity, a sort of collective guilt for actions we did not commit. And many people's lives were changed dramatically by the war. (When she was 16, my grandmother fled her village in what is now Poland and traveled across the country with only her friend, and later her father who had somehow been separated, and who she met again along the way.) So while Canadians can say, "The war was a tragedy, but Canada and her citizens proved themselves honourable," when a German looks at the war they see only the misery it has caused.
I still view Remembrance Day as important, because it forces us to look back at the past, something we could afford to do more often than once a year. Personally, I want to live my life in a way that will honour what I have been given: a brain, parents who have helped and still help me to become a better person, and a country that allows people to have (some) power, as flawed as that country is. (Less flawed than most, but every government has serious issues it needs to address.)
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I, the Romanian, have personally never heard of Remembrance Day.
My country pretty much got its ass kicked in both wars. Here's how the story goes:
WWI: We see the Germans going down in 1917, so we take a stab at getting Transylvania back and thus independence. The Germans were a bit more powerful that we thought, so they marched right through our army and killed 300.000 of our poorly equipped troops. Finally, we did get Transylvania back, and got our independence.
WWII: The Fascists become powerful in the Government after killing most of the liberal politicians. They forced the king out of throne and invited the Germans to happily take over.
On August 23rd, 1944,the King and the leader of the military turn our weapons against the Germans, and, with more than a little bit of help from our close brother Ivan, we drove them back to Berlin.
Number of Victims? Hard to say. I lack good sources. I'd say around 1.000.000
Diverging a bit, my great grandfather fought in the war. He was an infantryman, who fought on the Eastern Front, as far as I can remember (Makes mental note to ask grandmother more). Since he was coming from a region where the culture of Plums, and, hence, the drinking of Plum Schnaps was...prolific, my great grandfather had quite a supply of Schnaps with him.
There was also a Typhus epidemic on that front. Though this is hard to believe, even by my standards, my great grandfather drank his way into immunity. Yes. That's what the doctor said. The doctor said he drank so much Schnaps that the alcohol in it literally killed the bacteria associated with Typhus.
Hmm. No, I'm not bragging about this.
And how about the feelings now, that people have towards the war?
Modern-day Romania is way too preoccupied with tomorrow. People generally look towards that time as something that just happened. There are no hard feelings against the Germans, Russians, or anyone else. I guess the people have forgotten, or are just too ignorant to care anymore.
All in all, the wars are gone. Modern day societies in the countries involved differ so much in respect to their views of the War.
My view: No, it should never be forgotten. I am, however Romanian, and as my other countrymen, I choose to look to the future, instead of the past.
On the other hand, I fully understand people who want to celebrate Occasions such as Remembrance Day. But it seems to me that those are people who had very close connections with the war.
I have not.
All the best,
Vlad,
slayer of Oliver.
I like this post as well :) You see, your blog is actually worthy to read. Mine, it`s like a canvas being splatted by different colors of paint all over the place. It's disorganized, illegible and purely strange.
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